Modern microscopic methods, such as e.g. atomic force microscopy or scanning tunneling microscopy, permit the examination of surfaces of test objects with an accuracy in the nanometer range.
However, a problem arising in the case of surface examinations at those scales consists of the apparatuses used to this end possibly being exposed to external disturbances which can influence and disturb the microscopy probes used for the examination to such a great extent that the desired measurement accuracy can no longer be achieved.
In order to remedy this problem, e.g. US 2006/0033024 A1 and the article A. W. Sparks and S. R. Manalis, “Atomic force microscopy with inherent disturbance suppression for nanostructure imaging”, Nanotechnology 17 (2006), p. 1574-1579, 21 Feb. 2006, doi:10.1088/0957-4484/17/6/007 describe a scanning probe microscope which has the capability of inherently suppressing disturbances. An apparatus for measuring a property of a surface of a test object with the aid of scanning probe microscopy comprises a localized probe, which detects the property of the surface, and a delocalized sensor, which is mechanically coupled to the localized probe and arranged next to the latter. This setup renders it possible for the susceptibility of the scanning probe microscope to disturbances to be reduced.
The article G. Schitter and A. Stemmer, “Eliminating mechanical perturbations in scanning probe microscopy”, Nanotechnology 13 (2002), p. 663 ff., 20 Sep. 2002, doi:10.1088/0957-4484/13/5/324 discloses a method for removing mechanical vibrations in scanning probe microscopes by detecting the vibrations with a distance sensor and removing the vibrations from the measured topology signal retrospectively.
However, a disadvantage of the methods and apparatuses known from the prior art is that the delocalized (distance) sensor is always arranged next to the probe which is used for the actual measurement of the topography of the test surface. Therefore, the sensor and the probe measure different regions or points on the test surface, which may lead to inaccuracies when removing the mechanical disturbances by calculation or when suppressing the latter. However, the sensor cannot be moved arbitrarily close to the probe for structural reasons.
Moreover, it may be the case that, for example, the measurement region of the sensor is displaced beyond the edge of the test surface while the probe still measures the test surface, or vice versa. This means that the methods and apparatuses known from the prior art do not render it possible to measure the entire test surface of a test object and that an edge strip of the surface which cannot be detected simultaneously by the sensor and the probe always remains. Thus, there cannot be any direct compensation of the mechanical disturbances in this edge strip region.